keychange

Greeves - thanks for the advice and now that you mention it the feel of the 'second engagement' is familiar to me. I guess I didn't notice it so much in the past as I wasn't capable of climbing the steeper slopes where the sudden neutral can be pretty catastrophic !! Recently as my confidence has grown I practice more often on steeper climbs and banks and I find careering backwards with a locked front brake with the resulting crash - a bit hard on my 57 year old body - not to mention the 35 year old Cota. I will be much more aware of it now - thanks again

Hi my 247 has started randomly jumping out of first gear. The only pattern I recognise is that it is only very occasional however when it does it when starting off on a steep slope - it becomes hard to forget Only first gear and always in the first 5 to 10 metres. It never jumps out after that initial period.

All done - I left the epoxy to cure for 3 days then put some fuel in last night and everything is good - no leaks so at long last I have fitted and tried out my new tank and seat setup and I think it will be a great improvement in comfort. Thanks again for your help.

Paioli used to have linked shocks - I never really understood what it was supposed to achieve. I had them on a 1996 Moto Guzzi. I also understand that SWM used Marzocchi rear shocks so it could be worth checking there

Yep took the tank off and that little bugger was as loose as! All good now

Thanks David Thorough as ever - I have two serviceable spares so I will take my time and use the second option and do the full job. Any particular brand or product or are all brushing grade epoxy resins suitable for the hostile environment inside a fuel tank? Cheers

I bought a brand new tank and seat for my Cota 247 ages ago but it was a bit wider than standard and so I never got round to fitting. I finally rigged up some rubber mounts and got it secured and it looks good but when I put fuel in it - it leaked from the petcock and I removed and used plumbers tape then sealant and then I had a good close look and this is what I found. I guess at some stage it has taken a knock on the petcock and now it's cracked. Suggestions please

OK so I ignored the oil and left the timing alone - but the miss is still there and maybe getting worse. I have tried a different O-Ring, changed the needle settings and cleaned the jets countless times. The problem was annoying before but only came on under at higher revs but I have now replaced the 13 tooth front sprocket with a 9 tooth and everything is now at higher revs. It is supposed to use a resistor plug and it has one but is it possible the resistor can fail causing issues with the CDI ? ( I have ordered new plugs) I did fit a non R plug and the problem was no better or worse. Or should I be looking for a faulty earth

Hi - I have finally fitted a new tank/seat to my 76 Cota 247 and I have a new set of badges (soft sort of plastic) ready to apply. The tank is new and so very shiny and woudld hate for the badges to fall off somewhere in the paddock so rather than resorting to my trustee cyanoacrylate (superglue) I thought I better ask advice eg: should I roughen the nice new shiny surface where the badges are fitted? And what glue is going to work best with a fibreglass fuel tank?

Hi - I am looking to purchase some trials pants but there is no supplier within many hours drive so I want to buy online. But there is b.all information available on fitting and since I am 5' 8" (173cm) and 12.5 stone (80kgs) with waist 34-36" this can be an issue. Normal jeans are not a problem just take them up but these shaped pants look ridiculous. I have a pair of Fox MX pants and had to cut so much off the leg the knee pads are near my ankles. It appears most sports clothes are designed for young people with no waste and long legs. Someone must design for a more average size. I am not keen on the skin tight look - I want functional and comfortable. I like the look of Exid and it appears they wear well but can anyone of similar build tell me how these or other brands fit.

I ordered the red front guard and it just arrived but it is much more of a tomato sauce red than the volcanic orange of the rest of my TLR. Is it possible to paint these - I have a very good acryclic spray can match (Dulux Volcanic Orange) is there a undercoat that will stick to the plastic and accept the acrylic on top?

drop the carb into a pot of hot water (not boiling) for a few minutes - then into a pot of cool (not freezing water) the change in temp and resulting expansion and contraction may break the seal. Haven't had a dellorto in the shed for a couple of years so I am not familiar with their jet sizes however if you can find out - I find good quality bronze guitar strings make excellent jet cleaners - you can buy them .009 .010 .011 and so on - works for me

Shock rebuild ended up in the too hard basket and today a new set of NJB Expert Trials shocks arrived from England - so I stuck them on and what a difference - nice free moving and more travel. I only had time for a quick run but will give them a really good run over Easter. These are my second set of NJBs - I put them on my TLR and I love them. I have to compliment Norman at NJB - his service is great and you just tell him what you are going to do and how much you weigh and he sets them up - which is just as well coz they aren't that easy to ajdust. You pommies might have won the test again - but at least you can't sing "we get there dollars to the pound" any more and thank god for big mercies. Long live the strong Aussie dollar

And warning don't expect the manual to help very much - what are the problems that you have?

Contact me through Members messages and I will arrange something

or the wife's hair dryer - thanks for the heads up Alan

It's OK I just discovered http://www.tytrials.co.uk/ got a universal guard and a 9 tooth sprocket that was proving a but difficult to find as well and a few other spares ... more power to the Aussie dollar

Maybe so but search eBay TLR front mudguard world wide and returns only one in Italy Item HONDA TLR RTL PARAFANGO ANT NUOVO NOS FRONT MUDGUARD $164 Thus my question what other models or aftermarket products will fit my 200

I have made a mess of my 82 TLR200 front guard - are there other more common bikes with guards that will fit this or do I need to find a reproduction

Hi I just noticed my front brake lever is cracked - not surprising when you see the bend in it - but I am not sure what to replace it with - is it the Amal 534 and are the reproductions breakable rather than bendable? Can anyone suggest and Australian or UK supplier who will post to Oz

Tank and seat looks like a 247T the graphics etc match this http://www.southwestmontesa.com/gallery.html listed as a 1975 but looks nothing like mine. - mine has 1976 compliance plate with engine #21M235540 - "clutch under engine" confuses things and is that a right hand shift?. The frame number sounds a fair bit older than 74 Sorry it is a little confusing These guys are pretty good for parts - reasonable postage costs and quick service http://www.rmmontesa.com

great story - I hope you get years of fun out it

No offense intended when I say lousy it is poor image resolution and not all of the specs and capacities are clearly marked eg: on one page supposedly in the 247 section it indicates Gearbox, clutch and primary oil 900cc .... first time I tried that it made a hell of a mess. Then again the Clymer TLR manual I have indicates engine oil .9 litres or .98 US gallons .....

I wanted to check the timing on my TLR200 (not Reflex) - the Clymer manual says the pulse generator base plate can move - where as the Honda manual says the timing is not adjustable either way they both say to check with timing light with the engine idling - but when I do oil pumps out the timing hole cover and I can't see how I can use a light with oil spitting everywhere - is some thing else wrong?

Hi - I am trying to rejuvenate an old bent original shock from my Cota 247 1976 - I have the rod straight but I have no idea how much oil to refill with - can anyone help?